When the treasury department is training people to spot counterfeit bills, they do not show them the counterfeits. They teach them everything about the authentic bills so well that when a counterfeit comes along they will immediately know it is not the real thing.
This is the principle we ought to be using in warning family and friends about counterfeit Christianity. We should know God's Word so well that when someone speaks things they have heard that are wrong we can immediately tell them the truth about what they heard.
The problem these days is that Christians are learning the lies so well they know them better than they know the Bible. It confuses them, causing them to believe things that are not true, with a little superficial conservatism thrown in to feel spiritual.
We need not worry about warning others if we know the truth from God's Word so well that any lie that we hear we will be able to answer with Scripture.
God told us in His word not to learn the things of the heathens or the details of evil. We are to know the truth so well anything that is off, will be clear when it waltzes by us.
Unfortunately, so many Christians confuse and mix the lies with the truth leaving their belief mostly lies. A half-truth is a whole lie.
If any part of what we speak is a lie it makes the whole thing a lie even if there is truth mixed in.
The purpose of mixing part truth with a part lie is to deceive, it is a sin. Any time there is a manipulation of the facts to bring about a particular belief, it's called "spin", it is what nearly all media sources do and sadly many Christians in our day.
Many people in our day believe it's alright to "spin" something to their own way of thinking because they believe the cause is the right cause.
Whenever someone adds a little lie to the truth to manipulate others into believing their viewpoint they have crossed the line into deception.
It is better not to learn the evil if you know it because it came walking past you, that is different from going out deliberately to learn the lies for knowledge's sake alone.
1 Corinthians 8b "
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know."
"Puffs up" means to have "pride" in what someone thinks they know.
Romans 1418-19 "…18 For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. 19 So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification. "
Filling one another's minds with filth and injustice from the world does nothing to edify and encourage someone in the way of the Lord. In fact, this idea that we should tell others all the filth we know about is merely a way of destroying the peace of God as well as confidence in Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:2
"Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up."
Philippians 4:8
"8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
If you have been immersed in the garbage of the world you might find that obeying God in this principle of thinking on the things which are of good report will return your lost peace to you.
No one can tell me that learning all the filth and injustice going on in the world will bring any form of love, kindness, and peace. Learning the filth and injustice of the world just brings fear and dependence on self rather than on Christ.
I also notice that those who are continually searching for the evil "to expose it" as they say, are angry all the time. They bring division, and contention because their desire is to convince others to look at the evil with them. When someone will not look with them, they become angry, competitive, and almost never listen to rational and reasonable arguments to bring them back to the ways of God.
This has been my personal experience with those who are addicted to learning the wicked ways of the world, "to expose them" as they say. I don't believe they are wanting to expose the evil, I personally think they enjoy learning about evil the same way someone is addicted to porn or soap operas.
Because they think what they find on the internet in their searches is the truth, they become obsessed with it and must have followers.
I have heard of people who ruin relationships because they want others to follow them down the rabbit hole of filth searching, that they begin to demean the one who will not follow, even shun them for their stand to keep their minds free of worldly muck.
Colossians 3:1-2 "1Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."
God said it, I believe it and that settles it for me. Mocking, demeaning, shunning or anything else used in attempting to manipulate me will have no effect at all on me, however, it may destroy any chances for a meaningful relationship.
May the Lord deliver the born-again Christian caught up in the internet lies. May He convict them of enjoying the knowledge of filth and injustice. My the Lord return their joy and peace to them as they turn away from worldly ways and angry hearts.
